PGA DFS Tournament Breakdown: THE PLAYERS Championship
Long-time grinder, stlcardinals84, breaks down his top PGA DFS tournament picks in various price ranges on DraftKings and FanDuel for THE PLAYERS Championship. Which golfers should you be targeting to try and take down the big DFS tournaments? Find out below!
Golf Grinders, rejoice! The first big tournament of the year is here! Welcome to the Tournament Breakdown for THE PLAYERS Championship. This tournament is commonly known as the “fifth major,” but it is now the first one to be played each year. With the PGA TOUR schedule changes that were enacted a few years back, this tournament got moved from May to March. It feels strange since we have had so many “elevated events” over the past month, but this is the TRUE start of big-time golf season. There are some big prize pools out there this week, so let’s try to win some big money!
As usual, TPC Sawgrass will be the host venue for THE PLAYERS, which must be typed in all caps for some reason. This is a Pete Dye design, which means that ball striking is the name of the game. Sawgrass is a relatively short par 72 course by today’s PGA TOUR standards, but it plays a bit longer than it used to thanks to the cooler March weather. The prevailing wind generally blows in a different direction at TPC Sawgrass in March than it does in May, so be careful in taking any pre-2019 course history as a true measure. In particular, the iconic island green par 3 17th hole often plays into the wind in March. There will be plenty of splashdown water balls as we go throughout the weekend, and that will make it very interesting come Sunday afternoon as the tournament winds down.
I will focus on Ball Striking and Approach play as my primary statistical metrics, which is common in major-style events. Total Driving is also high on my list, while Par-5 Scoring and Scrambling get added into the mix as secondary metrics. You have to be good at everything to contend on this Pete Dye course, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Let’s take a look at some of my favorite tournament selections!
PGA DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel Tournament Breakdown for THE PLAYERS Championship
Tommy Fleetwood
DraftKings: $10,300
FanDuel: $12,300
There are question marks surrounding Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy at the moment. Scheffler has looked somewhat human in recent weeks, and McIlroy had to withdraw during last week’s tournament due to a back injury. This is leading me fully toward the balanced builds this week, and Fleetwood is one of my favorite options to begin those lineups. He started the year with finishes of T4 and T7 before a bit of a lull in his last start, but he also has a strong history at TPC Sawgrass, with 5 top-20 finishes at this venue. Many who are just going off of 2026 stats won’t see Fleetwood pop because he only has a 12-round sample size, but his long-term metrics are solid across the board. He’s a great starting point in tournament builds.
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